Electric welding apparatus



May 8, '1928. 3,668,783 A W. E. RUPLEY ELECTRI C WELDING APPARATUS Filed, April 15, 1925 51H61 neg Patented May 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ucr..

'WILLIAM E. R'UPLEY, OF IJOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN PIPE & STEEL COMPANY 0F CALIFORNIA, OF'SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A COB]- IPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

ELECTRIC WELDING APPARATS.

Application led pril 1S, 1925. Serial No. 22,832.

This invention relates to welding apparatus, and is more particularly directed to an apparatus for forming either' a lap or butt weld along a longitudinal seam so as to form seamless pipe or tubing.A 7 Vhile this inverition may be particularly directed to an apparatus for welding longitudinal seams of pipe, it will be obvious that. the apparatus hereinafter set forth might, by slight modifications, be employed for either butt or lap welding other straight seams.

In welding pipe for the purpose of providing a seamless connection, by methods herebfore in common practice, burns often occur through the welded connection which renders the pipe connection, as well as the pipe structure, weak at these points, and this diificulty has been encountered in both lap and butt welding, the welded material aving been burned right through, either causing a hole at this point or rendering the pipe connection and pipe structure very insecure.

Itis, therefore, an object'o'f this invention to provideA an apparatus for welding longitudinal seams in which means are provided 'for preventing the burning through of the material so that a perfect, uniform oo nnection may be made between two metallic portions of the material so welded.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus whereby longitudinal seams are automatically welded so as to remove the danger encountered, when the pipes are manually welded, of such burning by providing an apparatus which is automatically driven to weld the connected joint at a predetermined and definite rate.

AAn object of this invention is to provide a clamping means for securely holding the portions of material to be welded during the welding operation so 'that the'materials to be welded will'be held iuperfect alignment so that a uniform and straight wel-ded' seam may be obtained.

Another object of this inventionis'to provide adjustable clamping means for the poition or portions of material to be welded so that a welded seam ofpredetermined width may be obtained.

Another object of this invention is to pro- Vvide composite adjustably spaced welding .bers a locking 'is secured, which member 12 this invention is to pro- Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in4 which drawings 4F ig. 1 .is a side elevation of a welding apparatus embodying' this invention.

F ig.y 2 is an end elevation thereof looking from the left to the right in Fig. 1. 4 Y Fig. 3 is a top plan view of an electrode conveying means embodied in this invention.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing the construction of the welding jaws and welding anvi-l ,embodied inthis invention.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention shown in the drawings, 1 indicates a standard constructed of channel irons to which uprights 2 are secured by any suitable means such as the bolts 3. Secured to the upper end of the apparatus 2 are channel irons 4 which form the upper frame member of this apparatus. The truss arm 5 and cross plates 6 are provided for reinforcing and holding the channel irons 4 firmly in position.

Secured to the opposite end of the members 4 are a pair of inwardly bent supporting members 7 to ,the lower end 8 of which membar 9 is pivoted, as illustrated by a pin 10;` Mounted between the uprights 2 are spacing members 11 to which spacing ofmounting the weldingmembers 11 an anvil supporting member 12` I l may be of cylindrical I'cross section. Means are provided for holding the member 12 rigid at itsouter or .non-supported end 13, which means include a slot 14 formed in the member 19. into which the lower end 15 of the locking bar 9 is adaptedto tit so that the underside of the member 12 rests upon shoulders 16 formed on the locking bar. end of the locking bar 15 is provided with a The upper or opposite Y v anvil member 20, which anvil member is preferably formed of copper/,or similar soft metal. As illustrated, the anvil member 20 is dove-tailed Within the slot 19 so that the same will be securely held in position. A bore .21 extends the length of the anvil member 20 and is' connected at one end with a conduit 22 which conduit'22 is connected at its opposite end with a water supply tank 23 so that water is forced through the bore 21 and the bore 21 is connected at=.its opposite.

vend as illustrated at 24 to Ya return water conduit 25, which returns/the water to the water supply tank 23.

Means are provided for clamping the article to be welded, such as the pipe 26, rigidly to the anvil member 20', which means are preferably'as follows: Y

Arms 27 are secured to the channel irons 4 on pins 28, whichpins 28 pass through slots 29 formed in the upper end of the arms .27. Secured to the lower end of the arins27 are Welding jaws 30 which ygelding jaws 30 extend substantially the length of the anvil 20, each of which Welding-'jaws 30 is constructed insections 31, threeof which vsections are.

shown. However, it is understoodthat these welding jaws might be =constructed of any suitable number of sections, and are composed of sections of material such as copper vto avoid breaking or cracking of the jaws when the same are subjected to rapid temperaturel changes. j

-Formed within each :jaw 30 is a conduit 32, one of which conduits 32 is connected to` a water supply tankA 23 through ajconduit 33 andthe two conduits 32 are connected together at their opposite ends so that the water iiows through one conduit and back through the other conduit through a lead 34 back into the water supply tank 23.

Mounted onv the jaws 30 ,are track blocks 35, to one of which blocks 35 av plain strip of material 36 is secured so as to provide a runway for one pair of wheels'37 ofthe electrode conveying car 38 and to the other track block 35 is secured a block 39 having a recess 40 into which the Vrims 41 lofthe opposite pair of wheels 42 of the car 38 fit. The arms 27, mounted upon the pin 28, are adjustable to or from one another so as to vary the width of the weld formed between the ends '43 of the jaws 30. The particular means illustrated for accomplishing this adjustment comprises turn buckles .44.. the opposite ends of which are'secured to the respective arms 27. By this means the arms 27 mayl be moved to or from each other so as to' either spread apart or bring together the jaws 30. The jaws 30 are tapered as illustrated at 46 so as to permit the welding electrode 147 to be admitted therebetween in,close proximity to the anvil 20. Mounted upon. the pins 28 and 47 are toggle links 48 and 49A respectively, which toggle links are connected together at their opposite ends by pins 50 which pins 50 are connected by means of a rod 51. Secured to the rearward pin 5() isa link 52 which connects a piston iod 53, which piston rod 53 is connected to a piston (not shown),

Amounted within the cylinder 54. The cylinder 54 is supplied with fluid pressure through the conduits 55 and 56 from a conduit 57 which connects with a pressure pump (not shown). v

The conduits 55 and 56 connect with a. valve chamber` 58 which has a reciprocating piston valve (not shown) mounted therein so as .to either admit the fluid pressure through the conduit 55 or the conduit 56, depending upon whether it is desired to force the jaws 30 downwardupon the pipe 26 or whether it is desired to elevate the jaws 30 to allow the removal of the pipe 26.'v

The piston valve is connected to a piston rod 59 which is connected through the links 60 to an actuating arm 61 which extends vto the forward end of the welding apparatus and is provided with a handle 62 so that the piston valve may be easily reciprocated to its required position. The toggle links-49 are provided with turni buckles 63 so that their length may easily be adjusted.

'lVhile I have illustrated the means .for hydraulically forcing the upper jaws 30 into engagement with the work, it will be obvious that any other'suitahle means Amight beprovided so as to apply force to the jaws 30 to force the saine into engagement with'.

the work, such as the pipe 26, so as to force the ,sections thereof, which it is desired to weld together, into perfect alignment.

Means' ai'e provided to slowly drive the. l

car 38 along the runway 36 and block 39 during the welding operation, which means are preferably asf follows: The wheels 42 and 37 of the cars 38 are mounted on axles 64 which axles are loosely journaled to, a. Mounted upon the platformv platform 65. 65 is a motor 66. herein illustrated as an electric motor, and the drive shaft of which is,

connected through the reducing gears 67,

shown'as worm gearing'in Fig. 3, to ya pinion,

68, which pinion 68 is connected by means of an idling gear 69 to a drive gear 70, to

which drive-gear 70 a clutch gear 71 is afa keyway, likewise not shown, formed in the Y interior .core of the gear 72 so that the gear 72 is slidable upon the axle 64 bv means of a lever 73 to mesh with the gear 71. TheV i the well-known types,

.38 is a second electric motor 7 5 which drivesI an electrode-feed mechanism 76 of any of so as to automatically feed the-carbon electrode 147 into position' to form the welded connection. A motor generator 77 generates thc proper current for the welding electrodes, one terminal of which generator is connected to the frame work of the apparatus as illustrated at 78, and the opposite terminalis connected `through one of the leads 79 to the carbon electrode 147. Conduct ofthe current for the electric motors 6l and 75 may bc supplied from anysuitable source.

Means are provided for regulating the speed of travel of the car 38 -which means may be of any suitable form, as a gear change similar to that found in a lathe or may be as shown a rheostat 82 connected in series with the motor 66.

The operation of this machine is as follows:

The work is placed upon the anvil 20 over the anvil supporting member l12,'the'handle 62 is pulled to the direction to.force\tho jaws 30 into engagement With the work and by thisme'ans the connecting edges of the work are forced into perfect alignment. Water is.forced through the conduits 22 and 33 and the motor generator 77 is started,

it being understood that the position of the common electrode 47 is first set, `andthe weld. After `motors 66 and 75 are then set in operation. conveys the electrode along be. welded as the electrode The car 38 then the surface to feeding mechanism 76 feeds the electrode to` maintain the proper welding arc. This apparatus is adapted to either form a lap or 'a butt weld. In the case of the latter, a strip of welding material 81 is thrust upon the surface to 'be welded, as illustrated in Fig. et, and in position to form the butt the work is Welded from one ond to the other, the handle 62 is forced in the opposite direction so that the jaws 30 are raised from engagement with the` work and the lock lever 9 isthen released to permit the withdrawal of the work from the anvil 20 in case the' work be a pipe, it being understood that after the welding of the surface is completed the operation of the motor electrodes 77 to supply the current to the electrodes is discontinued.

Haivimtyfullydescribed the preferred em-. bodiinent of this invention, it is to be understood that Vitis vintended that the same should not be limited to the exact construction herein set forth, which may obviously be varied in` detail without departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

port, a pa'ir vof vertical movable `tical movable clamping jaw,

, I claim:

`l. In an apparatus of the rclass described, the combination'of a frame, a horizontally extending work support secured to the frame, a welding vanvil formed of copper Iand dove-tailed in a groove formed in the work support and extending substantially throughout the length of the said work supl jaws, means for adjusting the jaws transversely of the said anvil, a welding car driven by a plurality of wheels, means on the car and adapted to be engaged with one of the said movable jaws for guiding the car during the driving thereof and a welding electrode supported by the car.

vQ. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame, a horizontally .extending work support secured to' the frame, a welding' anvil secured to the said work support and extending substantially throughout the length thereof, a pair of versecured to the said jaws and to an upper horizontal extension of the Aframe and adapted to be actua-ted by a common. power mechanism to simultaneously move the jaws to work in the said support to rigidly clamp and align the same, and means for securing the work so held.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame, a work support extending longitudinally from the frame and being secured to the frame at one end, horizontal frame members spaced vertically from the said work support, a pair o f elongated horizontally extending jaws vsupported by the said upper framevmembers, and means secured to the said horizontally extending jaws and to the said upper horizontally extending frame members for moving thegvelding jaws vertically to engage the work positioned on the said work support substantially throughout the length o1' the said work. Y

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame, a horizontally `extending work support secured to the and an upper horizontally extending'section` secured to tlie baseby means of vertical toggle links Aforce the same into engagement with the frame members between the said base and horizontal sections, a pair of jaws, means securing the said jaws to the said horizontal section so as to hold the jaws from vertical movement, means secured to the said jaivs and to the said horizontal section for moving the said jaws simultaneously toward the said work support, and means mounted on thc, said work support for welding the work so held. v

C). Tn an apparatus of the class described,

the combination of a. frame'comprising a l base, vertically extendingr members secured at points near one end of the base and secured at their upper end to horizontally extending frame members, a work support secured to the said vertical members and the base, and releasably secured at its opposite end to the said horizontal frame members, a pair of verticallymovable jaws secured to the horizontal frame members and adapted to be moved vertically to rigidly secure the said Work to the support throughout the length of the Work and to align the said work, and means for adjusting` said jaws transversely of the Work support.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, thisl 6th day of February, 1925..

l WILLIAM E. RUPLEY. 

